Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-14-Speech-3-280"
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"en.20030514.12.3-280"2
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"Mr President, tackling the education crisis is one of the most effective means we have at our disposal for breaking the cycle of poverty and achieving the 2015 human development targets. The Committee on Development and Cooperation and our rapporteur, Mr van den Berg, therefore deserve thanks for a report that demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the subject and genuine concern.
Now it appears that the 2015 target for universal primary education remains a long way off. That is the single factor which is significantly undermining all the other work that is being done in the world to reduce poverty. The financing needed is EUR 8 billion per year. It is a lot, but not impossible, in order that everyone’s right to education, as stated in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights more than 50 years ago, might come about.
The rapporteur quite rightly mentions that the Commission must participate in the World Bank’s ‘Education for all
Fast track’ programme. Likewise, he warns the EU, and with good reason, not to agree to schooling being included as a service in the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade and Services. Primary education must be regarded as being independent of free-market rules and productivity criteria. We must trust in the notion that raising standards of education and the literacy rate is the best thing global trade can hope for. That is why the G8 countries must also be reminded of their promise to finance the Fast Track Initiative.
My own experience of cooperation development work reinforces my conviction that it is especially necessary to invest in girls’ education. That is the key to development. That way we can combat excessive population growth, as an educated woman will have fewer children. Women’s education is also a way out of the vicious circle, where, for example, many Asian women and girls find themselves: in mortal danger from the womb to the grave, with discrimination starting even before birth and continuing all their life. Where a girl is a liability and a burden on the family only a determined shift in attitudes and the commencement of education opportunities will ensure there is any change."@en1
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